CTU Holds March, Rallies Against School Closings

Teachers, parents and students marched on the South and West Sides Saturday in the beginning of a three-day protest against the shuttering of 54 Chicago schools.Organized by the Chicago Teachers Union, the protest is expected to continue into Monday evening with rallies at the Daly Plaza and City Hall.

More than 100 people were seen Saturday marching from school to school, carrying signs that read “Hands off our schools.”

“I feel like they should not close it, that’s my feelings on this,” said Dominique Grant, whose preschooler will be displaced in the closures. “If we have to walk from here to the North Side it shall be done.”

The protests come just days before the Chicago Board of Education is expected to vote on the closures at its meeting Wednesday.

“We are going to continue to put pressure and put pressure on the people that are going to make the decision,” said newly re-elected CTU President Karen Lewis.